I’m currently reading The Element by Sir Ken Robinson (great book by the way) and he briefly touched on the concept of ‘groupthink’ and how it affects individuals.
Groupthink occurs in a group who make decisions based on avoiding conflict, accepting the perceived expectation, and ignoring individual beliefs. Essentially this occurs in a group where the expectation and the need to conform often overrides the value of independent thought, despite the potential outcome. We see such behavior in business, where managers may agree with CEO’s or upper management, on the basis of not going against the authority figure even if they may disagree with a decision. A great example is seen in the cartoon below.
It seems that those who are conditioned to this groupthink mentality of not speaking up are more prone to behave similarly in the professional world, so the source of the issue needs to be addressed. The first instance of groupthink is often experienced in school, through the defined hierarchy, the social clicks, and the strict rules. The entire basis of education is more focused on the collective instead of the individual, which thereby ignores individual creativity, uniqueness, and independent thinking.
Greater focus on personal development is paramount for the future of our education systems. At least thats my opinion, what do you think?